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15 votes
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To solve the problem of a dwindling population, one small Finnish municipality took a big step – pay its citizens to have babies
9 votes -
On finding the freedom to rage against our fathers
8 votes -
Kids? Just say no
8 votes -
Oregon woman turns school buses into tiny homes for working homeless families
7 votes -
Swedes typically stop living with their parents earlier than anywhere else in Europe – but can leaving home at a young age have a dark side?
5 votes -
More people need to talk about having fewer children
29 votes -
The future of the city is childless - America’s urban rebirth is missing something key—actual births
12 votes -
When the racist is someone you know and love…
12 votes -
William and Ida are Denmark's most popular names again
3 votes -
Madelaine Gnewski: ‘Sweden's parental leave may be generous but it's tying women to the home’
8 votes -
China Muslims: Xinjiang schools used to separate children from families
9 votes -
Where disease stopped and my brother began: Coming to terms with a sibling's suicide
3 votes -
Torn apart by the Syrian war, these siblings struggle to stay connected across 6 different countries
6 votes -
After men in Spain got paternity leave, they wanted fewer kids
17 votes -
Listening to my neighbors fight
8 votes -
Nugrybauti
7 votes -
What number of kids makes parents happiest?
7 votes -
Nugrybauti
3 votes -
The insistence on home-cooked family meals doing more damage than good, says sociologist
12 votes -
Life and death in West Virginia
9 votes -
How parents are robbing their children of adulthood
18 votes -
Groomed by a grandfather: A mother discovers that her children have been sexually abused by a close relative for years.
3 votes -
On the death of my family's dairy farm
4 votes -
Father-daughter relationships strengthened with these three connectors
5 votes -
Ten "other" conversation topics for Thanksgiving dinner
4 votes -
How to handle difficult conversations at Thanksgiving
8 votes -
The invisible experiences of first-time Gen-X mothers
4 votes -
Family matters: Why a 27-year-old Canadian woman chose to be single and pregnant
5 votes -
Why parenting is both the toughest and most rewarding gig
7 votes -
Why aren't most women represented in the last names of their children?
14 votes -
When a DNA test reveals your daughter is not your biological child
11 votes -
Those who can't forget: Portraits of nine families whose lives are tied to Arlington National Cemetery's Section 60, the final resting place of loved ones they lost in Iraq and Afghanistan
6 votes -
Japan’s rent-a-family industry
16 votes -
How well-intentioned White families can perpetuate racism
20 votes -
The memoir by Steve Jobs' daughter makes clear he was a truly rotten person whose bad behavior was repeatedly enabled by those around him
17 votes -
Three's a crowd: Millennials are shifting Australia's family values
12 votes -
The age that women have babies: How a gap divides America
10 votes -
What do 90-somethings regret most?
7 votes -
Letters to the editor in response to "Motherhood in the Age of Fear"
7 votes -
How a notorious gangster was exposed by his own sister
7 votes -
Motherhood in the age of fear
11 votes -
Choosing to not have children
I hesitate to even use the term "childfree" for this post, as the reputation the community has gathered on reddit isn't the greatest. For good reason tbh - there's a reason I don't post on that...
I hesitate to even use the term "childfree" for this post, as the reputation the community has gathered on reddit isn't the greatest. For good reason tbh - there's a reason I don't post on that sub.
I knew from a very young age that I wasn't cut out for kids. I didn't want to play "house", hated baby dolls (especially the gross ones that "peed" so you could change the diaper), babysitting was done only under duress, and the noise that came from being around a crowd of kids made me crazy. I grew up with dozens of cousins, of which I was one of the oldest girls, so "taking care of the young ones" was kind of an expectation. But while the other cousins in my age range were happy to do so, I was off in a corner with a book, avoiding the entire thing.
As I got older and started dating, the conversations about weddings and having kids were the last thing on my mind. I went off to university, got a job, moved out on my own, and just didn't really think twice about it to be honest. I guess I always assumed it'd happen one day, and the urge to settle down would kick in, but it never did.
Now as I'm past the ever so major gate of 30 (that crucial age where everyone says you'll change your mind), nothing's changed. I have a large circle of friends who feel the same way (none of us have or want children) and we're enjoying our lives in a way I didn't think was possible. We enjoy our dinners with each other, traveling on weekends to spontaneous destinations, last minute concerts, festivals, and many other events that keep us busy and engaged. The thought of giving it up and settling down just doesn't hold any appeal.
The accusations of selfishness, shallowness, leading an unfulfilled life are all just water off a duck's back. If I'm selfish, it hurts no one but myself. If I'm shallow, well, I'm not shallow so that's not an issue. My life is my own, and it's exactly how I want it - full of friends, spontaneity, and peace and quiet when I want it.
41 votes -
Motherhood brings the most dramatic brain changes of a woman's life. So why does prenatal care ignore the topic altogether?
17 votes -
What milestone did your children hit that you weren't ready for?
I'm a father of two girls, ages are 6 and 4. Miss 6 has had a wobbly tooth for a few weeks now (the way she has harped on it felt like years) now last week it came out. Being that it was loose for...
I'm a father of two girls, ages are 6 and 4. Miss 6 has had a wobbly tooth for a few weeks now (the way she has harped on it felt like years) now last week it came out. Being that it was loose for so long I thought I had come to terms with that, I hadn't. It's odd but it shook me harder than I would have expected.
What milestone has your little one hit that you weren't ready for? prepare this foolish dad for more things to come!
15 votes -
Let’s all stop shaming moms for showing emotion
5 votes -
Japan’s vegetable-eating men - A nation of suit-wearing salarymen educates its first generation of stay-at-home dads
7 votes -
Two weeks after “ending” US family separation, parents still can’t contact their children
7 votes -
Listen to children who’ve just been separated from their parents at the border
13 votes -
The divorce surge is over, but the myth lives on
23 votes